MEDIA COVERAGE

Since 2009, when it was conceived, Impact Index has been covered in the media without any effort or intent from our side. It is the only analytics system in cricket history to be covered thus. We list some of the more salient mentions – in reverse chronological order (latest mentioned first).

38) This review appeared in The Dawn, Pakistan, just before the India-Pakistan CT final. Talk about timing.“…makes for an engrossing discussion of the kind that does not receive much coverage on television, mostly because it challenges the status quo.”

37) Hindustan Times reviewed Numbers Do Lie: “A new book that validates a few longstanding beliefs of cricket aficionados gives credit where it’s due and is an ode to the unsung hero.“

36) Review of Numbers Do Lie in Sportstar. “Belonging to the “lies, damn lies and statistics” school of thought, I was initially sceptical of the value of Impact Index.…After reading Numbers Do Lie, I have become a total convert.“

35) Review in Loksatta. (Marathi translation) “The special feature of this book is outspokenness… if you are not prejudiced toward any player, this book will prove interesting to you.“

34) The New Indian Express reviewed Numbers Do Lie: “If you have ever tried to look beyond what meets the eye in a cricket match then Numbers Do Lie will ensure that you may never see the sport quite the same way.“

33) GQ magazine asks Impact Index to explain why it is important, within the context of the book. We respond, for the first time in this manner: “Why misreading numbers, by not considering context, can destroy lives, withhold credit and perpetuate bias.”

32) The Hindu comes up with the first review of Numbers Do Lie: “If the stories in Numbers Don’t Lie are anything to go by, Impact Index has the potential to change the very vocabulary of cricketing debates.“

30) Excerpts from our book with Aakash Chopra, “Numbers Do Lie – 61 Hidden Cricket Stories”, were published in The Times of India on 12th February 2017, albeit with a misleading headline.

29) Sunday Mid-Day (Mumbai) broke the first story somewhat controversially on our book with Aakash Chopra “Numbers Do Lie – 61 Hidden Cricket Stories” on 22nd January 2017.

28) Following Virat Kohli’s omission from the ICC “Test Team of the Year” (2016), Times Now spoke to Soham Sarkhel of Impact Index who explained why it was indeed a blunder. Detailed analysis here.

27) Impact Index findings were again featured live on Star Sports (and Hotstar) during England’s tour of India (December 2016). Michael Atherton and VVS Laxman were on air, discussing the highest impact non-Asian Test batsmen in India (since 2000).

26) Jaideep Varma of Impact Index, together with former-cricketers Rohan Gavaskar and Amol Muzumdar discuss the huge impact R. Ashwin has already had in his Test career. The comparison with Bradman is rooted in some real facts though. Watch the full video here.

25) “The Impact Index team aims to find new ways of disseminating the information and make the system better.” – Analytics India Magazine published an interview with chief custodian Jaideep Varma on 25th April 2016.

24) In the words of renowned cricket journalist Anand Vasu, “If all that Impact Index does is challenge what we think we know about cricket, it has already done a great service to a great game.” – Man’s World India (April 2016).

23) Legendary Australian batsman and captain Greg Chappell quoted Impact Index – in a piece he wrote for Sportstar – to bolster his arguments on Virat Kohli’s place in Indian batting greatness.

21) A dedicated Impact Index show on India’s highest impact Test cricketers was aired on India’s leading news channel NDTV 24×7 in December 2015. Former Test cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra was also part of the show.

20) Impact Index was featured live on Star Sports – the #1 sports network in India, the subcontinent, and Singapore among other regions – during the historic Pink Ball Test between Australia and New Zealand (November 2015). Matthew Hayden and Alan Wilkins were on air, discussing the highest impact batsmen, bowlers and teams in cricket history.

19) ‘ScoreWithData’, powered by Impact Index, was recognised at the recent DMA Awards where it won a couple of honours (including one for ‘Creative Use of Data’).

18) During IPL 2015, the international live streaming of the tournament exclusively used Impact Index to make several observations during the match. We only provided the data; the presentation was entirely done by them.

17) During World Cup 2015, IBM used Impact Index’s data exclusively on their Score With Data twitter handle, which created a buzz during the event. Not many realised that all cricket analytics was provided by Impact Index.

16) Impact Index material was used by CNN IBN and NewsX editorial during World Cup 2015. There were several shows done on NewsX and its Hindi counterpart India News exclusively, with Impact Index leading the conversation very often (called Wisden Wizard, by these channels).

15) Impact Index also reached an entirely new audience through Zee News in September 2014.

14) BBC World Service quoted Impact Index in 9-minute special show on Sachin Tendulkar in November 2013.

13) We were featured in a 30-minute slot prime-time television show on NDTV on Tendulkar’s place in cricket in November 2013.

12) Impact Index also got featured on two separate shows of ESPN Cricinfo’s- The Huddle. The first one spoke about the importance of statistics taking match context into account whereas the second one was an analysis of the highest impact players and the teams in IPL 2013.

11) Impact Index was also covered on the Forbes India website for its utility in helping team management picking the right players and spotting unknown talent, especially in T20s. The same piece was also published in Firstpost.

10) Impact Index was selected for TechSparks – voted as amongst India-s most promising 12 tech startups in 2012. It was covered on CNBC India in September 2012 (part 3, around 2:00).

9) We had a tie-up with Yahoo Cricket for the first 8 months of 2012 as their stats partner – when we did about 100 pieces for them – like this and this.

8) The most famous sports reference book in the world – Wisden Almanack 2012 – has a write-up on Impact Index, which, to the best of everybody’s knowledge, makes it the first alternative stats system in cricket to ever receive this honour in the 148 years of its existence.

7) The Times of India exclusively tied-up with Impact Index for World Cup 2011. Though they barely utilised 20% of its potential when it came to ODI cricket, there were several comprehensive pieces during the tournament, especially just before it began. Like this, this, this and this.

6) There was some international coverage too, like this, where one of the new Australian stars of cricket was even queried about Impact Index.

4) The T20 version of Impact Index (still a manual system) was used as the “Official Stats Partner” for the Radiant Info Twenty20 USA tournament, the biggest T20 tournament in the United States in September 2010. This was a first for any statistical tool in the game of cricket – umpires in this tournament even sported Impact Index on their shirts. The system was used to give out all the individual awards in the tournament.

3) In August 2009, Impact Index was the main subject of a 30-minute radio show on cricket – Frontfoot, from New Jersey.

2) Impact Index was unveiled in Oxford in July 2009, during the ICC Centenary History Conference, at Oxford, England. The 20-minute presentation was a big success and it led to the entire Test cricket study being published in The Cricket Statistician – the erudite and time-honoured journal of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, in December 2009. (The findings of this study now are somewhat outdated, as the data inputted was only till early-2009).

1) This is what started it – a study on the 20 greatest Indian Test cricketers of all-time (by the website HoldingWilley), which made the front page of The Hindustan Times nationally on February 8th 2009. This wasn’t Impact Index yet but what led to it, which suggests the vacuum that exists for an entity like Impact Index. The mindset that guided this, however, was very much what was eventually responsible for Impact Index – exactly the same team worked on it and drew heavily from the work done during this exercise.

Testimonials

“I am very impressed with the work of the team at Impact Index. What I like about their system is that it brings context to the performance of players through the generations. It is my hope that their work is recognised and that it encourages them to continue to develop their concept to the point that Impact Index is widely accepted in the cricket community as an important addition to the myriad stats and stories on the game of cricket.”

“Impact Index is the closest anyone has come to produce cricket’s Moneyball moment.”

– Lawrence Booth, Editor, Wisden Almanack 2012

“Cricket Australia have found the team from Impact Index very helpful in challenging our thinking in 2012. They were asked for their recommendation on several selection and performance topics and consistently recommended players that were not necessarily on the radar. These recommended players were supported by individual and collective performances such that ensuing selection and performance debate was richer and deeper than it otherwise would have been – thank you Impact Index for your ongoing support”